"Hey, you in the straw hat, keep your voice down..."
In the dim prison, a burly man dressed as a Marine lowered his head to hide his face as he snapped at Luffy and the others. Then he said in a low voice, "You have five minutes. In five minutes, the next shift will arrive. All right, I've done what I promised. Whatever happens from here on has nothing to do with me. You never saw me."
With that, the Marine quickly left.
The group was left looking at one another.
But that did not matter now.
Usopp took out the key he had prepared in advance and opened the cell door. Then everyone rushed inside.
"Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji? Why are you here?"
Nami, tear tracks still on her face, stared in disbelief at the people who had appeared before her.
The moment Bell-mère heard their names, she knew who they were.
"We're here to save you, of course, Nami-san!"
Sanji rushed in, his eyes full of hearts.
Nami looked at Sanji and asked in confusion, "Sanji, how did you end up with them...?"
"It was Mr. Merry. After he found out something had happened to you, he asked me to help these three idiots rescue you..."
Nami was startled. Looking at the determined eyes of Luffy and the others, she felt deeply moved.
"Thank you, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp!"
"Are you okay, Nami?" Usopp asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. But you're way too reckless. This is the Marines' headquarters in the East Blue."
"Hehe, it's fine. No matter who the enemy is, we just have to beat them. I'm definitely getting you out of here."
Luffy grinned as he said it.
"All right, stop wasting time. We need to get out of here first. We don't have much time left!"
Zoro's words snapped everyone back to the situation. Nami grew anxious, but she looked worriedly toward her adoptive mother.
"Bell-mère..."
She was afraid Bell-mère would refuse Luffy's help because they were pirates. But to her surprise...
"I understand. Let's get out of here quickly!"
At that moment, Bell-mère looked at the four boys who had come to save her daughter.
They were pirates, and she had not known them for long, but they were willing to risk their lives to save Nami. That sincerity was something she had not felt in a very long time.
Four minutes after they left, the alarms throughout the Marine base rang out.
...
"What?!"
Inside the Marine headquarters, at the celebration banquet, the Marines' laughter had not even died down when the alarm rang through the entire base, throwing them into panic.
"You idiots! You couldn't even watch one woman!"
At that moment, the most nervous person among the Marines was Captain Nezumi.
"What do we do? If Bell-mère escapes and contacts Headquarters, then everything we did..."
"What else can we do? We catch her, of course!"
"Right... hurry, send out the warships! We have to capture Bell-mère..."
Just then, among the many panicked voices, someone spoke very calmly.
"Everyone, this is a good opportunity."
"A good opportunity?"
Everyone froze.
"That's right. No matter what, Bell-mère running away now proves she was colluding with pirates, doesn't it? Now we don't even need to execute her in secret. We can just kill her openly. That way, even if Headquarters finds out, they won't be able to say a word."
The moment they heard that, everyone's eyes lit up.
Nezumi was even more eager. With a sinister smile, he said, "Leave it to me..."
...
"Boom... boom..."
Although their inside man had given Luffy and the others more than four full minutes to escape, the Marine base was huge, and the island itself was not something they could get out of in four minutes.
Under the Marines' massive searchlights, Luffy, Nami, and the others were quickly spotted as they fled.
After receiving orders from above, the Marines did not hesitate at all. Countless cannonballs came firing out.
"Hey, hey, are you kidding me? Isn't opening fire right away a bit much?"
Among the fleeing group, Usopp felt the shockwaves from the exploding shells around them and looked utterly terrified.
"Looks like they really want you dead, Miss Bell-mère," Sanji said, seeming to understand.
"This won't work. We can't escape like this!"
How could a person possibly outrun cannonballs? Zoro's expression darkened as the roar of explosions filled his ears, especially with countless Marines still chasing them from behind.
Just then, Luffy suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Usopp, Zoro, take Nami and get out of here first! I'll cover you!"
"The Merry is by the shore! Hurry! We'll catch up with you later!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Luffy stopped running and turned around.
"Rubber, rubber balloon..."
His belly rapidly swelled and bounced the incoming cannonballs back. They exploded among the pursuing Marines, slowing them down.
Seeing that, Zoro also stopped. With his three swords, he cut the incoming shells into countless pieces.
Sanji used flying kicks to knock away the remaining cannonballs.
At that moment, the three of them looked at one another. For some reason, they cast aside all their reservations and stood together.
"Go!"
Seeing this, tears streamed from Nami's eyes.
Bell-mère and Nojiko were filled with shock.
Usopp struggled for a moment, then quickly made up his mind.
"I got it. You have to come back! I'm still waiting to go on an adventure at sea with you guys!"
With that, his face covered in tears and snot, he led Nami and the others toward the shore.
Hearing Usopp's words, Sanji and Nami both felt a strange thought rise in their hearts.
"An adventure out at sea? With companions like this... maybe that wouldn't be such a bad choice..."
"You have to come back..."
At that moment, Nami's words also revealed what was truly in her heart.
"Yeah. I won't lose!"
"Let's make a real mess of this!"
"Nami-san, wait for me to come back. Then you can eat my delicious cooking."
With those words, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji stood before the vast number of Marines.
Not far away, on the rooftop of the tall Marine building, two girls stood quietly watching the scene.
"Honestly, you still couldn't stop worrying, could you? And since you came, why not go down and see him...?"
"This is the path Zoro chose for himself. I have no right to interfere. But what about you, Reiju-nee...?"
"I didn't have a choice. Mama dotes on little Sanji the most... Once she learned about little Sanji's situation, she insisted I come and take a look... But from the look of things, there shouldn't be any problem. If anything, it seems our two little brothers are about to become companions too..."
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